


Three Christmas Kisses

by IreneADonovan



Series: A Chance of Making Good [7]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Trans Characters, Canon Disabled Character, Canon Jewish Character, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Charles Xavier in a Wheelchair, Cherik - Freeform, Cuddling & Snuggling, Destique, Erik is a Sweetheart, F/F, Healing, Kisses, M/M, Mention of Suicidai Ideation, Protective Erik, Secrets, Smut, Telepathic Sex, Tetraplegic Charles, Widower Erik Lehnsherr, challenge, holiday fic, lonk - Freeform, secret garden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:53:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28285794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneADonovan/pseuds/IreneADonovan
Summary: Over the course of three Christmases, Charles goes from despairing to content and hopeful.This is set in my Secret Garden 'verse, but no knowledge of the other stories is necessary for this to make sense.The first chapter is Logan/Hank. The second is Raven/Irene. The lart two are Charles/Erik.This was only supposed to be 3 pg-rated chapters, but then I had the idea for an explicit epilogue...
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Irene Adler (X-Men)/Raven | Mystique, Logan (X-Men)/Hank McCoy
Series: A Chance of Making Good [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1640062
Comments: 17
Kudos: 25
Collections: X-Men X-Traordinaire's Mini Holiday Fic Exchange 2020





	1. Secret

**Author's Note:**

  * For [librata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/librata/gifts).



> This is for librata. It is a privilege to call you friend. I hope you enjoy. 💜💙💜💙💜💙💜
> 
> A nod of thanks to everyone on our discord server for the encouragement, and a special shout out to lavenderlotion for organizing this event (and answering my eggnog question).

Christmas Eve. They'd been here more than six months now. The kids were settling in well. Laura, barely more than an infant, would likely remember nothing of her imprisonment. Jimmy and Jade would not be so lucky, but they were healing. Jimmy's hair had grown long enough to cover his scars, though his blue eyes remained haunted, and Jade was positively flourishing now that she was away from her birth father and allowed to be who she was.

The Hudsons were also doing well, having settled into a mother-in-law cottage on the far side of the estate, far enough to have privacy when they needed, but close enough to see all their new grandchildren on a daily basis should they so choose. And they regarded not only the three Logan had rescued but also Raven and Irene's two as theirs.

Even Logan himself was doing well. He'd loved many times, both women and men, in his nearly two centuries of living, and it was always sweet, even when driven by raw need and fuelled by passion, but somehow this time was the sweetest. Hank was an incredible man, breathtakingly brilliant , quiet and shy by nature, but, with the inner beast of his mutation, he was also fiercely protective.

The kids adored him. So did Logan.

Hank stood in front of the window, watching the softly blowing snow. Logan came up behind him, wrapped his arms around his rangy torso, tucked his chin over his shoulder. “The kids are in bed. Join me for a drink?”

Hank nodded slowly. Something was bothering him, had been all evening, but Logan had resisted the urge to pry, waiting until the kids were asleep.

Logan kissed his ear. "I'll get us some beer."

Hank shook his head. "Bourbon."

Logan's brows rose. Hank seldom drank anything stronger than beer. "Okay. Meet me on the couch." He turned Hank loose and headed for the kitchen.

He poured two generous tumblers of bourbon and returned to the living room. Hank had curled up on one end of the couch, looking even more troubled. Logan handed him a tumbler then plopped down beside him and snaked an arm around his shoulders. "What's wrong, babe?"

Hank took a long drink of his bourbon, said nothing for a moment, then, "It's Charles. He asked me to help him commit suicide."

"Fuck." Logan gulped at his own drink. 

"Yeah." Hank snuggled into Logan's embrace, seeking comfort. "Of course I won't help him, and he's not likely to manage it on his own, but he's my only patient, and I can't help but feel like I'm failing him."

"You're not," Logan said, kissing the top of Hank's head. "The kid's depressed, and not without reason."

Hank sighed. "I know. I just wish I could help him more. But my research into spinal regeneratives hasn't panned out as yet."

"It will."

Hank shook his head. "It might never. Repairing one or two nerves is difficult enough. Repairing an entire spinal cord is potentially impossible. Charles will probably always be a tetraplegic."

"If anyone can find an answer, it's you."

Hank blushed.

"Has Irene said anything?" Logan knew Raven's wife tended to be cagey about information revealed in her visions.

"She says my current path has the potential to bear some fruit eventually. But likely not in time to help Charles through this."

Logan let out a low whistle. "Ominous."

"She says not. She says something else will happen first, something good. But not for a while yet."

"How long?"

Hank shrugged. "She doesn't know exactly."

"Then I guess we just help Chuck hang on for a while longer."

Hank didn't answer, and Logan tucked his hand under his chin, raising his head to look deep into those blue eyes. "We can do this. Okay?"

"Okay." Hank's soft voice was a little shaky.

Logan leaned forward and kissed him, soft and sweet.


	2. Challenge

“Charles, you need to get up.”

“No.” Charles’ sapphire eyes sparked with anger, and when Raven reached for the buttons on his pajama top, he lifted an arm to block her.

Raven caught his arm, just above his dangling hand. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“It’s Christmas.”

“So?”

Raven cupped her hand under his chin, wouldn’t let him turn away as she said, “So I’d very much like to spend the day with my family, especially my big brother.”

“I’m not your brother.”

“You are, in every way that matters.” She pulled him into an embrace, wishing he could feel it. "So how about we get you dressed and we can all spend the day together."

“You don’t need me there. it’s not like I can do anything but sit there like a lump.”

“Charles--”

“It’s true, Raven. I’ve been paralyzed from the shoulders down for a dozen years now. Helpless. Useless.”

“You’re not useless,” Raven said. “You’re my brother, I love you, and I want you to spend the day with us. Please.”

"Fine," Charles muttered.

His assent might have been given with ill grace, but it was given, and Raven would take it.

**~xXx~**

That night Raven lay in bed with Irene, cuddled up under the blankets, mostly content yet still troubled by her brother’s dark mood. 

“I know, love,” Irene said, her cloudy eyes reflecting the pale moonlight. “It will get better soon.”

“You keep saying that,” Raven protested. “You’ve been saying that for more than a year now, and all the while Charles has been slipping further and further away.”

Irene sighed. "I know." Her eyes closed and her body went still. 

Raven recognized that she was following the thread of a vision and waited for her wife's eyes to blink open again. "Well?"

"The time is drawing to a close. We should begin preparations."

"Preparation? For what?"

The school. Your brother's dream."

Raven snorted. "Really? The repair work alone will take months."

"Which is why we must begin planning for it now."

Raven sighed, knowing she'd get no further information from her wife. Irene was _so_ careful about letting the future unfold unhindered whenever possible. "I'll make a list of the repairs and start looking for a contractor."

Irene's smile was enigmatic. "Good."

"You are the most maddening woman," Raven said, though without heat.

Irene snuggled closer. "And you love me anyway."

"I do." Raven leaned forward and covered Irene's lips with her own.


	3. Healing

It was Christmas again. It was hard to believe, Charles thought, just how much things could change in the space of a year. He was still paralyzed, yes, that wasn't something that would likely ever change, but for the first time in a dozen years, he didn't feel his life had ended on that stormswept roadside.

Even just a year ago, he had wanted nothing of celebrations, wanted nothing more than to put an end to his interminable suffering.

Now he looked forward to the coming new year with joy. Joy at his dream of a school on the verge of becoming reality. Joy at his ever-growing family of choice. Joy at having fallen in love.

He sat on the couch, bundled in a thick sweater that Erik said matched his lips, a quilt draped over his lap and legs, watching the crackling fire. All the kids were playing with their new toys, and Raven was on the floor with the three younger ones. As he watched, Irene rose from her seat and approached him. "Are you happy?" she asked, a knowing smile gracing her lips.

"Very," Charles answered as a grin spread across his face.

"Good. Everything has unfolded as it was meant to." She let her own smile broaden, then she turned and went to her wife and the children, her steps sure, guided by her prescience.

Erik returned then, a vision in a fuzzy blue sweater and jeans, cradling a large mug in his long-fingered hands. His auburn hair was rumpled and shaggy, and his multi-hued eyes gleamed in the soft firelight. His lips curved into a soft smile as he came near.

Charles nodded toward the cup. “Cocoa?” he asked hopefully.

Erik shook his head. “Eggnog, with a little bit of Logan’s bourbon.”

“Better yet. Share with me?”

“Always.” Erik settled beside Charles then wrapped his arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer. Then he held the mug up so Charles could drink.

The warm drink was spiced and sweet, with a lingering kick of bourbon. “Thank you,” he said once he pulled his head away.

Erik took a long sip of his own then brushed a kiss across Charles’ lips, feather-soft. He nodded toward the kids, then spoke quietly, his breath warm against Charles’ ear. “That’s a down payment for later.”

“Mmn, I’ll hold you to that.”

Erik kissed him again, deep enough this time to earn a pointed throat-clearing from Raven. Erik ignored her, deepening the kiss even further, and Charles welcomed it, letting his tongue tangle with Erik’s.

Until Raven cleared her throat again, accompanying the sound with a sharp mental jab. Charles pulled back, trying -- and probably failing -- to look chastened. Erik just smirked.

“Take it upstairs, boys,” she said sternly, though she was clearly trying to suppress a laugh.

"Shall we?" Erik asked, gazing deep into Charles' eyes.

"Let's. After we finish the eggnog."

Erik took the mug and lifted it to Charles' lips. He drank deeply, then watched as Erik downed what remained.

Erik rose, set the mug aside, moved the quilt on Charles' lap. "May I?"

Charles nodded and raised his arms, ready to slip them around Erik's neck.

Erik lifted him tenderly and settled him in his chair, stealing another quick kiss in the process. "Love you."

"Love you, too," Charles murmured as they set off for the elevator.


	4. Smut

Erik closed the door to their suite then sank to his knees in front of Charles. “I have been waiting all night to unwrap my present.”

Charles blushed. “You’re Jewish. You don’t even celebrate Christmas.”

Erik smiled softly. “First off, you celebrate it, so I will respect that. Secondly, I _do_ celebrate Chanukkah, and that means I get eight nights of gifts. And you are one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.”

Charles’ blush deepened. “As you are one of mine.”

Erik undressed Charles tenderly, reverently, and readied him for bed, kissing every inch of skin Charles could feel as he went. Then he lifted Charles into bed, propping him against the pillows before making gentle love to his collarbones, his throat, his ears, until Charles was moaning, half-mad, beneath him, begging for release.

Erik nipped at his earlobe, and Charles fell.

When he swam back to awareness, Erik was grinning at him.

“Your turn,” Charles said, a little breathless. “What would you like?”

“To ride you,” Erik said without hesitation, “while you ride along.” He tapped his temple meaningfully.

“Okay.” Charles was always down for that.

Erik shed his own clothes and stretched out beside Charles. “C’mon in.”

Charles slid easily into the outer layers of Erik’s mind as Erik grasped his penis and began to stroke it firmly. The secondhand feedback always felt strange for a moment. Charles couldn’t feel his cock, but he could feel Erik feeling it. It responded sluggishly as always, but Erik was patient and coaxed him to full hardness before slipping on a cock ring that would help him stay that way while Erik prepped himself.

Those long, elegant fingers, slick with lube, reached behind to trace his hole, then he eased one inside with a soft groan.

As Erik worked on himself, Charles reached over carefully and set one braced hand on Erik’s cock. Erik bit back a hiss even as his hips jerked forward, arching into the contact as sensation flooded Charles’ mind through their link. Erik’s metal-sense coupled with the hyperawareness of arousal made the touch of Charles’ metal splints against his rapidly hardening cock threaten to short-circuit Erik's higher brain functions.

"I'm ready," Erik said, even though he probably wasn't, not entirely. His mind was screaming _Need him. Now. Before my cock explodes._

Erik straddled Charles' hips and sank slowly onto his cock. His eyes went wide as his body adjusted, then he raised himself up before sinking down again.

Charles nearly saw stars, it felt so good.

They chased their shared pleasure for what could have been seconds, could have been hours. Erik maintained a steady rhythm until near the end, when his hips jerked and bucked in staccato beats before he came with a sharp cry, pulling Charles along with him.

He eased free of Charles, released the cock ring, then flopped down beside Charles, mind and body radiating satiated exhaustion. His tawny skin was flushed and sheened with sweat, and he looked entirely edible.

"Thank you, love," Charles said, basking in the afterglow of their shared orgasm.

"Mmph," was Erik's reply, and he slung his arm around Charles' torso before falling into a deep sleep.

Charles didn't fall asleep right away, but that was okay. He was in the arms of the man he loved, that loved him back, and that made everything okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment. This is a tough time for all of us, and a comment, no matter how rambling or how pithy, means more than you can imagine. Kudos are nice, but comments are gold. So please comment! (Even if it's just a 💜.)
> 
> Come join our [Discord](https://discord.gg/BnRnqnTQND), X-Men X-traordinaire 18+.


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